Introduction to Psychology: The Psychology of Personality

Learn about about the complexities of personality, and what makes us - us

What makes us what we are? A key question within psychology and the subject of endless hours of research and theory within the field. On this course, you’ll examine the factors that influence personality and build your understanding of psychological theories.

You’ll cover Freud’s pioneering work on the psychodynamic perspective of personality, before considering theories of humanism, behaviourism, and personality-traits, as well as examining how the culture of a society affects individual personality.

Explore the theories of personality psychology

You’ll study the approaches, models and theories of the groundbreaking figures who contributed to the field, before looking into the efficacy of personality-tests in helping us to further our understanding of the human decision-making process.

As you build your understanding of different personality traits and the tools that psychologists use to identify them, you’ll learn how to explain psychometric properties of personality tests and explore how different personality theories apply to a case study.

Understand defence mechanisms and how they apply to everyday situations

Every personality type has a set of defence mechanisms that have been developed through childhood experiences and as a result of other personality traits. You’ll discover how to identify at least five of these mechanisms and provide examples of how they work.

Develop your knowledge of self-efficacy and how it can benefit you

Self-efficacy – your belief in your own ability to succeed – is a key factor in resilience, but it can’t be changed without effort. You’ll develop your understanding of the factors that underlie and define self-efficacy, and find out how it can ultimately be changed.

This introductory course is for anyone interested in psychology - you don’t need any past experience.

It might be of particular use to learners who have already completed a Bachelor degree in other disciplines who are interested in expanding their science and research skills.

• The concept of personality
• Getting started
• The elements of personality, Freud and the psychodynamic perspective
• Learning approaches
• End of week review, and preview
• Models, theories and approaches
• Welcome to the week
• Humanistic approaches
• Trait theories and culture
• The science of measuring personality
• End of course